Secular music of Tonga

Secular music is composed in a range of patterns, extending from the semi-traditional to the aggressively pop influenced by foreign patterns. the usual instruments are known as voice, guitar and in time to time the players from the church brass band.

source of picture: ringroundtheworld.org 

Hiva kakala (which is a fragrant chants which means love poem) are an important section of the semi-traditional sect. many of the ones still renowned presently were created by the queen Salote in the 1950s and it is the favourite sounds for the tau’olunga dances. Another important section in this sect is the more formal chants, biased towards odes to the chiefs and the royal family. They are the ideal choice for dances such as the ma’ulu’ulu or the lakalaka, Tonga’s national dance type.

Combined dancing or hulihula as practiced at parties and clubs on the western world is still comparatively uncommon. This is not a feature of village life, and it can be seen only in the cities, such as Nuku’alofa.

Most of the village musicians show their skills only in church, or at the koniseti. The koniseti or show is a ceremony of dance and chant, frequently performed as a fundraiser for some worthy cause, such as the sports team or an indigenous worshipper. The artists are made up of singers, guitar players and probably a church brass ensemble. The music is melodic and minor key; it is seen as the background to the dancers. In time to time villagers will practice a koniseti for months and then travel to the neighbouring villages or even countries. The size of the receipts is equal with the quality of the concert, and there is great motivation to shine. At other time the koniseti may be done only once, for a special event.

Music is frequently heard in Tongan cities and villages, but it is usually music from Radio Tonga. Radio Tonga is own by the state; it begins its broadcast in the early morning and ends late at night. It is also heard from the smaller villages on the rural islands, blasting from the omnipresent tepis of mixture of radio/tape cassette players (frequently powered by battery). One weary western visitor was heard to complain, in the year 1980s, known as you can’t get away from Radio Tonga.

Radio Tonga plays music from indigenous Tongan musical orchestras such as Samoan and Fijian ensembles, Hawaiian music and so on. It also show church services and choir contests, so it broadcasts church music as well as renowned music. The Tongan orchestras frequently involve strong choral, solo or vocal, haunting minor key accords, and guitar backup. To the naive western ear that serves as American country music.

The western pip is also well-known among the younger spectator, however disapproved by elders and churches. It is bought as CD or tape, seen also on DVD or videotape, picked up on short-wave radio, watched in movie theatres or even watched on the TV channel, disseminating from the capital city of Nuku’alofa. Though, government edits significantly restrict what can be brought or played.

The indigenous tradition also plays a role. This is prohibited to mention sexual topic in front of men and women who have a brother-sister relationship. This applies not only to brothers and sisters by western reckoning, but also to the cousins. Hence sexual references are forbidden in most open conditions where both men and women are present.

Current Tonga pop music has entered outside Tonga, but only to the Tongan diaspora in the United States, New Zealand and Australia.

No Tongan musicians have attained a cross-over hit. Though, the Jets, an R&B/pop octet of the mid-80s, had a cord of hits on the American charts. The Minneapolis-based performance is made up of eight brothers and sisters whose mother and father had migrated to the United States from Tonga.